The Giver Characters
by rakhirani917
Summary: Character descriptions with character traits for each main character in the awesome book.
1. Asher

**Asher**

Asher is a clumsy, inept, but good-natured as well as good-humored twelve-year-old who just happens to be Jonas's best friend. Asher is usually late to school, which forces him to recite the standard apology, directed to the class.

Since Asher is not very hand-eye coordinated, his great friend Jonas is always there to help. One time when both were doing their volunteer hours at the recreation center, Jonas picked up an apple out of the snack basket and simulated a game of catch between the two males. Even though the activity was boring and easy for Jonas, he still played so that his friend could get some practice.

Prior to the Ceremony of Twelve, Jonas was worried about Asher's Assignment because Asher didn't seem to have any serious interests. Surprisingly, the Chief of Elders and the Committee decided that the best Assignment for Asher would be _Assistant _Director of Recreation. During the ceremony, the Chief Elder went on and on about how hard it was to find the perfect Assignment for Asher, at times. She also told the Community what Asher's mistakes were when he was little. For example, when Asher was a three, he still didn't have proper language acquisition. One day Asher had gotten hungry so he said "smack" meaning a _snack_. Well, in the community, smacks were a system of punishment for children. They stung painfully when brought upon you. The system was this: one smack across the hand for a minor issue and two smacks across the knees if it occurred again. Asher had one day, impatient for his snack said "smack" instead of "snack", so that's what he got. His friends had tried to correct him, but it was too late. Asher had been given a smack across the hands, correcting himself when he released what he had said. However, the following day Asher made the same mistake, this time taking the punishment on his knees. This happened for a few more days, until Asher stopped speaking. "We had a silent Asher for a few days." had said the Chief Elder. The Chief Elder had mentioned some of Asher's mistakes at the ceremony, which slightly embarrassed Asher.

**Character Trait Adjectives:**

Harmless (Chapters 1-8)

Any mistake that Asher ever made was not meant to harm anyone. It was just an innocent little mistake by the clumsiest kid ever. No intention of hurting anyone.

Town Clown (Chapter 7)

Asher is more than just a class clown – he's a town clown! His mistakes are entertaining for the community, and he also isn't breaking any rules!

Proud (pg. 53)

Asher is very proud of the Assignment he got – Assistant Director of Recreation. The author describes him as "beaming next to the Chief Elder". He likes recreation and he is relieved that he didn't get a bad Assignment.


	2. Father

**Father**

Father is a Nurturer. He nurtures newchildren. In Father's family unit there is his son Jonas, 12, daughter Lily, 8, and his wife, Mother. Father adores Lily because she is most similar to the newchildren that he takes care of. Sometimes, Father is so into taking care of Lily that he goes against his wife and spoils Lily.

Father extremely enjoys his Assignment as Nurturer because he loves taking care of the newchildren. He is especially attached to a newborn named Gabriel. Gabe's name is supposed to stay secret until he is named, which won't be for another year, but Father stole a peek at the list of names. Father is very concerned about Gabe because he isn't growing at a normal rate. The Committee of Elders had decided to release him, but Father had pleaded on Gabe's behalf, to give him another year to fully grow. Since the night crew at the Nurturing Center is that good, Father has been bringing the baby home every night. This shows you how much Father cares about newchildren, especially, Gabriel.

**Character Trait Adjectives:**

Kind (pg. 9)

First of all, Father _wants _to bring Gabriel home each night to give him extra care. Many people wouldn't want the extra responsibility. Secondly, Father proposes in front of the entire family, his idea just to make sure that its okay. That is a really nice thing to do.

Gentle (pg.30)

Raising and taking care of babies is not easy. It takes time, patience, and gentleness. Father truly has all of these.

Unaware (pg.19)

Father is so caught up in taking care of Lily, he doesn't know that he is just setting her up for an even bigger downfall when the rules say she can't wear her hair ribbons or have a comfort object any longer.


	3. Fiona

**Fiona**

Fiona is a kind, gentle, responsible, and polite twelve-year-old who is also one of Jonas's groupmate. She doesn't know, but she is also Jonas's crush. Fiona's assignment is something she truly fits- Caretaker of the Old. Her gentle, soft and polite personality makes her perfect for communicating and taking care of the Elderly or Old.

The reason why Fiona doesn't know that she is Jonas's crush is because Jonas didn't tell her because the Stirrings were being taken care of by pills and because it wasn't until Jonas had a dream about Fiona that made him realize the he had a "wanting", as he describes it, for his female friend. The dream involved Fiona and Jonas in a bathing room, very similar to the one in the House of Old, except in his dream, there was only one tub. Jonas had taken off his tunic but hadn't put a smock on. The two twelves were sitting near the tub. Fiona was laughing and Jonas was getting angry at Fiona because she wasn't taking him seriously. Jonas was trying to convince Fiona to take her clothes off because he wanted to bathe her, but Fiona thought it was a joke because if she did do so, both her and Jonas would be breaking a rule. Once Jonas told his family that he had this dream, Mother and Father were not worried at all because they new hat was happening – Jonas's Stirrings were beginning. After that day, Jonas took the pills that all of the adults in the community took, which hid his Stirrings, including his crush for Fiona.

**Character Trait Adjectives:**

Loving (pg. 42)

Fiona loves her new baby brother the instant she sees him. It is usually hard to accept a younger sibling into the family.

Gentle (pg. 29-30)

While bathing the old man, Fiona is very careful of not disturbing him. Her hand strokes are not rough, but very gentle. As she lofts him out of the tub, she is also very gentle.

Quiet (pg. 29-30 & pg. 42)

Fiona is a very happy kid. She giggles a lot but she always concentrates on what she is supposed to do. Therefore, to get things done she doesn't talk or interact much. She's usually quiet.


	4. Gabriel

**Gabriel**

Gabriel is a newchild who is having trouble growing "in tempo" with everyone lese, as well as not sleeping or eating properly. Consequently, he has been given extra care through additional nurturing. Recently, during the Naming Ceremony, Gabriel was not names because of all that he lacked. The standard procedure for dealing with misbehaved newchildren is releasing them. However, Father was so worried and attached to the little newborn that he had made a plea before the committee to give Gabe an additional year to gain the appropriate characteristics needed to be named. Since Gabe needed extra care, he was put with the night crew of nurturers, who usually slack on the job and aren't highly thought of. So, Father had decided to take Gabriel home with him each night until h was ready. Father was so determined to helping Gabe that even though he won't be named for another year, he is still committed to helping the sweetie!

Gabe is also different in another way. The baby and Jonas, 12, both have those pale, knowing eyes. This characteristic is almost "weird" in the community. However, for some odd reason both Jonas and Gabriel have those eyes, and we don't know what that really means.

**Character Trait Adjectives: **

Cute (pg. 20)

The first thing Lily exclaimed when she saw Gabe for the first time was how cute he was. All babies are cute, but Gabe seems extra-cute!

Naughty (N/A)

Gabe doesn't eat, sleep, and grow at the normal speed. This s partly because he has a baby's brain that is still developing, but still.

Different (pg. 20-21)

Lily also noticed that Gabe has the same eyes as Jonas. Jonas noticed this too. This makes both Gabe and Jonas different because they are the only two people who have those eyes.


	5. Jonas

**Jonas**

Jonas is a twelve-year-old who has recently been _selected_ by the Committee of Elders to be the new Receiver of Memory. Jonas deserves this honor because he is responsible, kind, and capable o doing what he puts his mind to. Jonas has the perfect characteristics needed to be Receiver of Memory: intelligence, integrity, courage, wisdom, and the Capacity to See Beyond. The Receiver of Memory as an Assignment was a big surprise and honor for Jonas because only one person could hold that job and it's very rare to be selected as one. In order to be the Receiver of Memory, you need to have all five characteristics – including the Capacity to See Beyond which Jonas has. A unique reason why Jonas has the Capacity to See Beyond is his pale eyes. The Capacity to See Beyond means that Jonas can see in depth, outside of the box, and to see as well as accept complexity. Since the community as a whole does not have this characteristic, they recognize anyone who does as special/unique. Therefore, they are given the Assignment of Receiver of Memory.

Jonas's family unit consists of Mother, Father, and his younger sister Lily, 8. Jonas is closer to his Mother because Father is very playful and lenient; perfect for Lily, while Mother is more strict and serious, just like Jonas.

Jonas has the majority, if not all, of the characteristics in order to fit into the community. However, his one unique physical characteristic is his pale eyes. A boy Father is nurturing also has these pale, unusual eyes. The community members, however, all have dark eyes. Jonas's pale eyes might have enabled him to see color, a characteristic that no one else in the community has, in an incident that had singled him out.

One day, Jonas and his best friend Asher were doing their volunteer hours at the recreation center. Jonas had picked up an apple out of the snack basket and thrown it to Asher, starting a game of catch. Asher returned the apple as Jonas threw it. During one throw, in mid-air, Jonas noticed the apple change something that changed its shade or "color". This change occurred numerous times during their game of catch. Afterwards, Jonas was still so curious about the apple that he took it home against the rules. So hen the Announcer singles him out without even using his name, he had been given a warning not to brake another rule.

**Character Trait Adjectives:**

Insecure (pg. 20-21)

When Jonas first saw Gabriel, he got very insecure. He got insecure about himself. He started to pay more attention to what Lily had always said about his eyes, now knowing what they looked like.

Appreciative (pg. 31-32)

Jonas was very appreciative of all Larissa told him about the Ceremony of Release. No one new much about it, but out of the few people who did know about it, Larissa was willing to tell him.

Shocked (pg. 54-55)

Shocked is truly what Jonas was when the Chief Elder skipped his number. He felt that in some way, it was his fault. But how could the _Chief Elder_ make a mistake? He wasn't expecting that at all.


	6. Larissa

**Larissa**

Larissa is one of the Old. Jonas bathed her during a few of his volunteer hours at the House of Old. Through her conversation with Jonas, she seemed to be a fearless, arrogant, rude, mischievous, upfront, but very open lady. Larissa talked (or gossiped I should say) to Jonas about the Ceremony of Release, and about her fellow elderly who were released recently. This might just seem like just harmless talk, but Larissa didn't exactly say positive things.

**Character Trait Adjectives:**

Strongly Opinionated (pg. 31-32)

Larissa has a very strong point of view on things – specifically people. She liked certain people in certain ways, but then liked them in certain ways, also.

Attentive (pg.31-32)

From all of the information she tells Jonas, you can tell that Larissa is very attentive. She listens for things that she can gossip about or use to humiliate someone.

Calm (pg.29)

While Jonas is bathing her, he is careful because he assumes that she fell asleep like the Old often do. However, Larissa still talked, with her eyes still closed. This tells us that she has no fears and worries and so she can be very, very calm.


	7. Lily

**Lily**

Lily is a normal, expressive eight-year-old in the community. The only thing different about Lily is that she is snotty and impatient. In Lily's family unit, she has her older brother Jonas, 12, Mother, and Father. Lilly's bond/relationship with Father is much stronger than her relationships with Jonas or Mother. Father is the playful, childish, lenient type who knows how to handle kids, being a Nurturer and all. Also, he is very giving and nice so Lily likes him.

During the daily, family ritual of sharing feelings one day, Lily told everyone about her day with her Childcare group. She had gotten angry at a visiting mal, also 7 at that time, who was disobeying and breaking rules. He had continuously cut to the front of the line of kids awaiting their turn on the slide. Since Lily is not the quiet type, she started to hold up a clenched fist at the boy proving her bravery and aggressiveness, but then didn't proceed. After a little discussion with Mother and Father, Lily's "easy to deal with" feelings were solved.

**Character Trait Adjectives:**

Rude (pg. 19)

She sort of orders her parents to give her the comfort object. She doesn't respect her elders.

Innocent (pg.19)

When Father pampers Lily, she's innocent. Then she is not the one to blame, but its Father.

Open (pg. 7-8)

During the sharing feelings period, Lily is the first one to share. She is not afraid of saying what she thinks and feels.


	8. Mother

**Mother**

Mother is a very serious member of the community, mainly due to her job as Judge at the Department of Justice. Cases of citizens who break rules are brought before her. From there on her job is to punish/chastise these citizens. However, after two mistakes, Mother has no choice but to release the rule breaker. This job is also very demanding, putting pressure, responsibility, and stress upon Mother.

Mother's family unit is her son Jonas, 12, daughter Lily, 8, and husband, Father. In this community, there is no mention of "love". Consequently, Mother shares a partnership relationship with her husband, Father. So far, their relationship has been successful. The reason why they were paired with each other is because Father's giddy, fun personality balances Mother's serious, neutral, and wise/intelligent personality. Mother is closer to Jonas than Lily, as she showed through the Stirrings talk with Jonas. She actually _told _Jonas to sit down and talk, rather than Jonas asking. I highly doubt that Mother would do that for Lily.

**Character Trait Adjectives:**

Stressed (pg.10)

During the daily ritual of sharing feelings, Mother talked about how she would have to release a citizen who had broken two rules. This worried Mother and put a lot of stress upon her.

Anxious (pg.33)

At the daily ritual of sharing dreams, Mother talked about her dream. She said that she had broken a rule that she didn't understand. She was confused and anxious.

Shocked (pg. 21-22)

When Lily says that she wants to be a Birthmother, Mother gets furious. Since there is very little honor in that Assignment, Mother does not want Lily to get it. She suggests to do her volunteer hours at a Nurturing Center, where she will always be with newchildren, when she turns eight.


	9. The Community

**The Community**

The Community consists of many family units, coming together to be a group. The community is basically like the backstage crew for a play – you don't see them, but they contribute a lot to the play or in this case, the novel. The members of the community usually agree with each other on feelings about different situations. Perhaps that is because they all try to follow the rules. For example, the community, and all of its members, agree that it is rude to point out or mention other people's successes or accomplishments. This may be because everyone has different accomplishments so they don't want anyone to get emotionally hurt but we really don't know.

As you might know, it is always a good idea to have a leader if you want to keep control over a large amount of people or a community. We have mayors and governors and presidents to do this for us, but in the community they have a leader called the Chief Elder. The Chief Elder is selected every ten years. The Chief Elder leads all of the Ceremonies that occur in the community like the Naming Ceremony, the Ceremony of Twelve, the Ceremony of Release, and the Ceremony of Loss.

**Character Trait Adjectives:**

Judgmental (pg. 43)

When the family who lost their first Caleb got their second one, the audience _slowly _and _quietly_ recited the name, not sure if this is right. This is just one of many times when the community got judgmental.

Serious (pg. 48-50)

During a long duration of the Ceremony of Twelve, the community was very quiet and was listening attentively. They heard whatever the Chief Elder was saying, but nothing else. This seriousness disappeared however once it was Asher's turn.

Insensitive (pg. 52)

Quote:

"… "Especially," she (the Chief Elder) said, chuckling, "the difference between snack and smack. Remember, Asher?"

Asher nodded _ruefully_, and the audience laughed aloud."

The community is clearly insensitive to other's feelings. Lois Lowry wrote that Asher nodded _ruefully_, meaning regretting or feeling sorry for himself. It's almost as if he doesn't want to bring it up, which we all can understand. However, the community doesn't notice this but actually _laughs_ at him. That doesn't sound like sensitivity, does it?


End file.
